July 14, 2017

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Airbnb gives business travelers the option to book with Concur

by John_A

Business travel can seriously suck, with soulless, inexpensive hotel rooms the norm for many of us. Airbnb offers a unique alternative, with personal homes and rental units that business travelers can stay in while on a work trip. To make it even easier to book business trips through the company, Airbnb is expanding its partnership with Concur, a business travel portal that Airbnb first partnered with in 2014.

The number of business trips on Airbnb tripled in 2016, and nearly 15 percent of Airbnb bookings are for work, according to the press release. Airbnb already uses Concur to help companies manage their travel and track expenses through TripLink. Now, for the first time ever, Airbnb listings will show up in searches and bookings right in Concur itself, making it easy for employees to book an Airbnb when traveling on business. This will help everyone compare costs and amenities of hotels directly with Airbnb properties.

It’s not just business that Airbnb focuses on, of course. It keeps disrupting the hotel industry with continual updates and partnerships to make sure people choose its room-sharing service. It purchased background checking technology to fight of scams, built security tools to keep accounts safe, added new check-in guides and even made it easier to find places to stay near remote national parks. Airbnb’s success is probably why hotels keep lobbying to pass legislation to limit the service.